Serving as player development coach for the Sacramento Kings in the NBA, Jimmy Alapag was among those who could’ve boosted Kevin Quiambao’s chances for a workout.
Sacramento Kings player development coach Jimmy Alapag clarified what transpired between himself and Gilas Pilipinas’ Kevin Quiambao after the latter failed to make any progress in his NBA dream, following some rumored workouts with teams during the summer.
Alapag, who has been with the Sacramento Kings organization since 2021, was among the lead assistants of the team’s Summer League squad. But some unfortunate timings on the end of the two-time UAAP MVP led to opportunities slipping past their fingers.
During his recent interview with former PBA commissioner Noli Eala and sportsman Jera Sison’s Power & Play, Alapag narrated what had happened between himself and Quiambao.
After prefacing his story with the fact that he hasn’t met Quiambao in person yet, Alapag said that there is indeed a lot of potential for the La Salle product.
“I think he’s setting himself up to have a great professional career. He had reached out to me back in January of this year, and he just said ‘hey coach’ and I reached out to him and I told Kevin, I said Hey, first and foremost congrats on all your success, with the MVP in La Salle and displaying your talent in Korea. I said I think it’s great, I said you know, best of luck to you whatever that next step is,” Alapag said.
“And he expressed to me, he said hey coach, I have NBA workouts in the summertime, in June, and that’s all he said. I was under the impression that whoever is a part of Kevin and his team that they had spoken to other NBA teams and front offices, and had arranged for him to be seen,” he added.
As it turns out, though, Quiambao was not scheduled for a workout — at least in Sacramento because he reached out again later on to Alapag.
Unfortunately for Quiambao, it was already too late at that point, with the Kings' Summer League roster already taking form, especially after the 2025 NBA Rookie Draft.
“When he finally reached out, this was end of June, I believe, or early July. By this time, our front office and coach Doug Christie, and some of the other coaches had already had an idea of who our Summer League team was gonna be," Alapag said.
"And then when Kev came out, he said, hey coach, I’m ready for workouts. I hope I can try to make the team. And at that point, being a lead assistant on the Summer League staff, for one, I don’t have any say as far as who or who isn’t on our roster.”
“And, I think again, this isn’t blaming Kevin at all. But I do think whoever is helping him, should’ve probably planned better in terms of reaching out to different NBA teams and front offices and say hey, we have this unbelievable young Filipino talent, he’s been an import around Asia and Korea," Alapag continued.
"He’s one of the best amateur players here at home, how can we get an opportunity for him, possibly by your coach, your front office, and then that kind of starts the momentum for Kevin to hopefully get a chance to workout with an NBA team, whether it’s us or any other NBA organization."
With the window already passing on Quiambao at least for the moment, Alapag is hopeful that KQ can continue working on himself, as he also outlined the rigorous needs of making it into a league like the NBA.
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Having seen the type of players that flourish under the NBA's bright lights, Alapag believes there is more to work on.
“There’s a very direct process to how that all works and I felt bad that I wasn’t in a position to help him. Because when he reached out and said hey, I’m here in Sacramento, I’d love to workout and try to make the team, the team was already put together. So, that was the unfortunate part,” said Alapag.
“But again, he’s young and I commend him for seeking out these opportunities here [whether] Summer League, G League, potentially in the NBA in the future."
"He just has to continue working and when that time comes when he does get an opportunity, not just physically, but mentally, he’s as sharp and he’s the best Kevin Quiambao that he can be because it will take that and probably more," the former PBA MVP added.
For now, Quiambao will have his hands full as he tries to help Gilas Pilipinas to a successful stint in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup in Saudi Arabia.
Quiambao and the rest of Gilas Pilipinas open their campaign on Wednesday (PH time) against Chinese Taipei.